The Eastwood Caves or Six Ways to Die
by Squirrel Assassin
Summary: The boring missions are settling in, and another routine one seems to fit right with the others; but will a broken cave wall reveal to Naruto his world's dark past?
1. Chapter One or Bland and Tasteless

The monotony of daily C and D rank missions had begun to settle in. Pull weeds. Clean the park. Pick up the trash. Escort a group of school children to the local fair in the village next to Konoha. The tasks had been too easy, too boring, so overwhelmingly simple that Naruto had almost forgotten the last time he had punched someone that wasn't for insulting him, or sparring with Sasuke. No, how long had it been? How long since the new hokage, how long since Orochimaru? There were so many bland missions. Naruto couldn't keep track of them, they came and went quickly and slowly and each day that they piled up, he dragged his feet to the briefing room a little bit more, got more frustrated and less willing to do any jobs other than B and A ranks. Several times he would protest in mock outrage, just to bring a little bit of much needed excitement, but it was quick and didn't stay long.

Today was one of those days, the days that drag on, don't go away when you ask them to. The alarm clock rang out its shouting tune, and Naruto smacked it the same way he had smacked it for 13 years. The first two years of his life he had spent in a foster home, but was passed around and around until he was eight, and by then he just bought his own place with the money his mother and father had left behind, which wasn't much as far as Naruto could tell. Good ol' mom and dad. Never knew them myself, he'd think.

Naruto slipped out of bed, the covers dragging around his waist and feet until he got too far and they gave up and slipped down to the floor. He took a shower, dried off, dressed, the normal things you did when you got up, got ready for work. He felt like a cow plowing a field going in circles, too tired to think, too stupid to stop.

Naruto ate his breakfast, which consisted of some ramen he found in the back of his pantry, and a glass of water and orange juice. He finished up and put the dishes in the sink. He'd clean them later. Naruto slugged over to the door, and turned to the coat rack and excrutiatingly tiny table to his right. It was like a cramped and shortened main hall of a house. Only this hall was barely three feet long.

Put on your orange coat.

Put on your black shoes.

Put on your blue head protector.

Boring. Slow, everything felt closed and distant at the same time. Naruto reached for the door knob, contemplating getting back in bed, and rebuked that thought with his dreams and promises, the only things keeping him going. Click, squeak, crack. The door opened slowly, and he stepped out into the hall way. A tenant walked by and smiled at Naruto.

"Lovely day isn't it, Naruto?" She said, happy and joyful and content. Naruto could hear a slight hint of fear in her voice. Over what?

"Yes, great day. Nice blue sky out," Responded Naruto, and he quietly closed his door and walked down the hall towards the stairs as quickly as he would allow. Naruto almost tripped on the second to last step, regained his balance, and walked down the next hallway. He went down another flight of stairs. Don't trip. He came around the last long hallway, and appeared into the lobby. It was small and had white, cracked walls, with some shoddy and scuffed flooring. A receptionist sat at the front desk, tapping a pencil on some busy work, raggled, tired, and bored. She looks how I feel.

Naruto made his way to the front doors, and once again the thoughts of just turning around and going back flashed in his head. Why am I thinking these disgusting thoughts? he asked. No one would answer him, and he couldn't answer himself. It was a rhetorical question directed at his being, the kind you felt compelled to answer but can't when you're asked it, to you or by someone else. He shook his head, and adjusted the head protector that was a bit itchy for some reason. He pledged to himself, as he did everyday to keep from losing his dreams, not to give up, keep going. No matter what the odds, no matter what it takes, I must always perservere. And with that, Naruto pushed open the door, breathed in deep, and walked about ten feet before being knocked down by the pint-sized nuisance that followed him around all the time.

"Naruto-san!" Screamed Konohamaru right into his ear. Naruto struggled out of the child's firm grip on his pants leg, got up and dusted himself off. His ear rang for a short time.

"Konohmaru, don't do that! I just washed these clothes yesterday!" Naruto berrated. But he didn't really care, and this was beginning to become very apparent in his tone of voice, and this actually worried him more than anything else. Was that pledge that he just recited to himself going to falter so quickly?

"So! You can just wash them again! Now let's go play ninja, the other guys in the squad are waiting," Konohamaru shook with anticipation. The little guy really did like playing that damn game. Ah well, what was he? Six years old? Maybe five. It's not like he had anything better to do, and it was a holiday for school children. Naruto understood. But he didn't have time to play children's games.

"I'm sorry, but I can't! I have business to attend to!" Said Naruto in his most important sounding voice.

"Like what, pulling weeds out of a field? C'mon, you don't need to do that stuff, come play with us!" Naruto flustered. Was the boy really watching him that intensely that he even spied on him while he was doing some menial labor? Konohamaru really didn't have anything better to do.

"Hey, it's all part of becoming hokage! I gotta do this stuff champ, otherwise I won't be head ninja!" Naruto boasted sarcastically, but the sarcasm was only in his mind. Even though these lame chores were part of becoming hokage, he didn't want them to be.

"Psh, whatever! I never heard of any great ninja or hokage that did menial labor!" Oh, please, Naruto thought. I never paid attention in class, and even I know that you have to do these lame chores before you can get to the good stuff. The problem was that he had been doing these meaningless missions for almost a year and a half, and had only gotten...maybe one or two B and A rank missions.

"That's because those stories aren't interesting, Konohmaru! Now go back to your friends, I'm already late for work!" Naruto knew he wasn't actually late. But the kid didn't know that, now did he?

"Fine, party pooper!" Konohmaru stuck his tongue out and made a raspberry, then ran off down the street, kicking up small clouds of dust. It never failed, did it? He knew it was a Friday! Naruto wouldn't be off until Sunday. He'd play with him then.

Naruto walked and jumped across some rooftops, while looking down at the streets to observe the people. They were all walking, some of the younger ones running as fast as their legs would carry them to the local park or arcade or whatever activity they planned to do. Some of the ones that walked slower were weighed down by baskets and bags. They were probably doing chores for their family, and it wasn't just the children. Everyone was doing these chores, these annoying little jobs that everyone hates but that which they needed to do. And Naruto couldn't stand these much longer, the sheer helplessness to combat them. They ruled everyone's life, it seemed. Even the most esteemed ninja like Kakashi had to do them.

Naruto looked away from the streets, and sighed with annoyance. This was what made him so agitated. The pattern of everything that happened in his life, eveything between the Chuunin exam and the two A rank missions he had gotten, all of it was a pattern. But the thing he feared was that the pattern might bleed its way to his tougher missions, if the council ever got the guts to start giving him only B and A rank missions. Would being in so much danger eventually get old as well? Would trying so hard to just stay alive and get the objectives complete wear thin in its consistency? Naruto dreaded the thought. Shake the fears and unfound worries from your head.

Naruto reached the building about ten minutes later. By then it was 8:45, he estimated. Naruto jumped off the last building's roof and walked across the street to the briefing house. It was a stout and wide building with blue shingles, and was about two stories tall, with brilliant white walls, one decorated with the Konoha Village symbol, and the words 'headquarters' written above it. There was a stone pathway and a tiny pond next to the entrance. There were large gold fish in the water, and would smim merrily around each other. And every time Naruto came to the Briefings and Missions building, they'd always do this. They'd always go in a circle. Like Oxen tending a field.

Naruto entered the lobby of the headquarters, which was surprisingly like his apartment complex. But the walls weren't cracked and the floor board, it didn't squeak and wasn't scuffed. The room was larger, but the architecture was quite the same. The receptionist was a Chuunin, about twenty four years old. He looked excited to be there. Naruto wondered briefly when he became a Chuunin. He'd never asked him.

"Oy, Naruto. Another day, another mission, ey? Have fun," The man said, writing down on some papers. He checked his watch, continued to write whatever it was he was writing down.

"'Ave a good day, Naruto-kun!" The man gave a cheery smile at Naruto, and it was returned with a large, strained grin.

"You too," and with that the conversation was over. A lot of Naruto's conversations were short and pointless, but made for a nice void in all the silence. He made his way down the left hall, and took a right down another. There were a lot of halls, and the funny thing was that they all leaded, except for a few, to the middle of the building where the briefing room was. Whoever designed this building must be one psycho freak to make everyone walk so far and get lost so easily when they're trying to find a room besides the one in the middle.

After about ten minutes of walking, no running, Naruto came upon the briefing room. It was a large room, meant to fit a lot of people. At one end (opposite the door way) was a long table where the top ninja and the Hokage gave the missions for the day. There was nice maple flooring in there, unlike the rest of the building which had oak.

Naruto entered the room, and standing in a corner was Kakashi and Sasuke. Where was Sakura? She was supposed to be here. Maybe she was late. Like me, maybe. No, that couldn't be; Naruto had grown accustomed to the emotions on the faces of his peers and teachers. They weren't pissed that he was late, because he wasn't. They must be waiting their turn, because there were other squads in there. More importantly, why was Kakashi-sensei with them today? The team usually does missions on our own now.

Naruto went up to the two. "Hey guys. Where's Sakura?" Was the first thing out of his lips. Kakashi answered first.

"Hey, Naruto. Sakura's real sick today. She's come down with that flu that's been going around. Tsunade should be tending to her sometime this afternoon, but until then she's hospitalized." Naruto gave a soft gasp. He didn't like to see Sakura in pain, much less hear about something like this that made him completely helpless to give assistance.

"Oh man, is she alright?" Naruto choked. Some flem must've gotten into his throat. He hoped he wasn't coming down with the same thing Sakura got.

"She's going to be fine. It's a relatively mild flu, not like the one that happened about thirty years ago," Sasuke said, and lifted his back up a bit off the wall. Well, that was good. But Naruto had never even heard of this disease.

"Was it a plague?" Naruto queried.

Kakashi rubbed his chin. "It was. I remember it, vaguely. I think, maybe twenty people died. I dunno. I can't remmber most of it, but it's all in the annals. You should check those out some time, if you actually believe in the library, Naruto," It made Naruto twitch his eyebrows in small frustration.

"I know what a Library is, sensei, I've been in them bef-" Naruto was cut off by the sound of the Hokage's voice echoing out in the room.

"Team Kakashi, please report to the table, we have your assignment for the day!" Naruto perked up. The day? Oh good, perhaps it wouldn't be menial labor. Perhaps they'll actually get to do something interesting for once. He hoped. The three made their way to the table, and stood about six feet from it. The normal length to receive missions.

"Okay. I'm aware that Sakura is out on sick leave for today, so it's just you three. As you two know, in the event of a team member's absence, the leader will fill in the postion. That one's for you, Naruto," Naruto made a face at the hokage. "That being said, I suppose I'll give you a relatively easy mission, since I know you two aren't as used to working with Kakashi..." Tsunade fumbled around with the various papers that were strewn across the desk. The delegates around her watched with intensity at her hand motions. Naruto squirmed with annoyance at the thought of getting another weed pulling 'mission'.

"Alright, here we are. There's a small packet of houses up on the eastern side of Stone mountain, who have been complaining of bat and other rodent problems. They want you to investigate the caves and kill the nests of the creatures." Naruto groaned outloud. This was pathetic! Outrageous! Two whole weeks and nothing more than a C- rank mission!

"So we're playing exterminator today, are we?!" Naruto said with a flair of arrogance that took the hokage by surprise. She should be used to his usual sarcastic remarks, but the feeling of the authority of being Hokage was setting in, and this kind of blatant disrespect for her wasn't coming as often as it used to.

"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes," She was really taken aback by that, Naruto thought. Then he thought to continue his rant. The obligatory jump of excitement for the day.

"Why don't you ever give us better missions than this?! You know I can handle them, so can Sasuke and Sensei, even Sakura, but you don't! Why? Don't you trust us? Are you afraid that I'll just fuck it all up, no matter what it is, is that it?! " Naruto imagined his words like a whip, stinging and snatching the breath from Grandma Tsunade's lungs.

"Naruto, you are way out of line!" Kakashi said, glaring and actually raising his voice a bit higher than he usually does when Naruto backtalks his elders. .

"It's fine, Kakashi. I'll just make it more interesting for him, since that's what he probably wants," Naruto's disposition changed a bit. Good, this could be it! He'll finally be able to put some well deserved enlightenment into these bland missions...

"Naruto, you are not allowed to use any ninjutsu of any kind for the duration of the mission. I'll have Kakashi and Sasuke keep a close watch on you, and if you screw up once you're suspended from the team for the next five months. Also, no weapons of any kind are allowed except for your knife." He couldn't believe it. He looked at both Sasuke and Kakashi for some kind of joking expression. None. Naruto's jaw, along with Sasuke's and Kakashi's, fell to the proverbial floor. It was completely unlike her to do something like this! Oh wait, yes it was. She did this a lot, though nothing this severe. This in itself was the excitement of the day, and Naruto did not like it one bit.

"Wha-what?! How could yo- I mean, that's the whole point of being a ninja is to use your skills!" Naruto wailed, knowing that he had lost this battle. He wondered how many more battles he was going to lose.

"Yes, use your skills. And not just Ninjutsu and weapons. You use your deductive reasoning, Naruto! Use your common sense! And trying to go against the hokage without some kind of collateral damage, is not using the aforementioned ideals." She winked at Naruto, and he couldn't help but just revel at her cunning. Sasuke shook his head in pity for Naruto's lack of...grey matter.

"You are dismissed. Kakashi, I'd like to see your team back by about Sunday. There's a lot of caves, as you should already know." Kakashi gave a salute, as did Sasuke, but Naruto did not. This was not going to stand! He wanted something interesting, but not like this!

"Are you really going to make me go through with this, Grandma-Tsunade?" Some of the elders made twisted expressions at Naruto. They were very displeased.

"Do you want to stay in this organization, Naruto?"

"Of course I do, that's why I'm standing here."

"Then you'll obey whatever your seniors and upper officials have to say, even if you disagree with it. You can't always have your own way, Naruto."

"You let Sasuke get off scotch free! Haven't you ever heard of fair and square?!"

"Sasuke didn't do anything to earn this handicap. He does his job, not to mention well, and doesn't screw up or get lost in his own thoughts all the time."

"That's bullshit, I've saved him hundreds of times-"

"After almost getting killed yourself and with no regard to anyone else, if my sources are correct," Tsuande glanced at Sasuke, who gave a slight smirk.

"This is stupid! Couldn't you give me a better handicap than this?! What if it somehow jeapordizes the mission?!"

"It won't, Naruto. I told you that you were allowed to use your knife. It's not that hard to catch a rat and kill it."

"It is when it's pitch black in the caves."

"They're mining caves. There will be lights."

"Not in the dark places." Tsuande blinked, and gave Naruto a very hard look. This boy was starting to scare her, but not out of fear of getting attacked; out of fear that he would do something stupid any minute and get himself hurt.

"Dismissed, Naruto." Naruto showed his teeth to her, a sign of his inner demon's aggression. It sent shivers down Tsuande's spine. He gave a quick salute and walked out, shoulders slouched but tense.

The three walked out of the briefing room, Naruto the first one out. The other elders let out small sighs of relief. But Tsunade couldn't get the shaking feeling that Naruto was being unusually hostile today, and wasn't about to take him off of her sights. She wouldn't let her breath go that easily.

"Naruto, you never cease to amaze me just how brain-dead you can be," Sasuke said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Shove it up your ass, Sasuke. I'm just tired of all these boring missions," Naruto groaned, trying to recover from Sasuke's insult.

"They're necessary, you know. Just because they're boring to you doesn't mean they're boring to the other team members," Said Kakashi.

"Sensei, you hate them too. I saw that look on your face when she gave the handicap to me," Naruto looked up at his teacher's face with a criticizing glare. Kakashi responded with a light hearted shrug.

"Not to mention that if we don't hold up on our end of the deal of keeping you from killing these little infections any other way than knifing them to death, we could get suspended too. Thanks for the bonus, Naruto," Naruto sneered at Sasuke.

"She never said that. Besides, what she doesn't know won't hurt her," Naruto made his rebuttal, and Sasuke even thought about letting Naruto cheat this one time.

"No one's going to cheat on this handicap, because I'm going to be watching the both of you," Kakashi put his hands on the shoulders of the boys, and gave them a smile underneath his permanent ninja mask.

Sasuke raised a placid eyebrow. "Why do you have to watch me? I'm not the one that's got himself screwed." Kakashi let out a small laugh and let go of the boys' shoulders.

"It's because I had a talk with the Hokage beforehand. We knew Naruto-kun was going to blow up in her face like that again, so we came up with the handicap. I was faking it the entire time, being surprised. I thought you'd notice, Sasuke." Naruto contemplated attempting to thwack Kakashi in the head, he was so furious at this treachery to handicap his mission. But he knew that if he tried, that would just have himself in more trouble, and Naruto just didn't want that right now.

"That still doesn't answer my question of why you're going to watch both of us," said Sasuke, who was suddenly at the side of Kakashi. Naruto was up ahead. He wanted to be through with this mission as soon as possible, and therefore not paying attention to his team mates constituted as a good idea.

"I think I meant that as more of a joke. Really, I just want you to watch Naruto closely. Don't help him out, even if he asks for it,"

"Like I would anyways. Why are we doing this to him? He's just being his old hyper-active self. It's not like it's doing anyone any harm," Kakashi was surprised at how much Sasuke was talking recently. It seemed he would make better conversation when Sakura wasn't around or when Naruto was out of earshot, or attention-shot.

"It's not so much to teach him a lesson, Sasuke. The Hokage has great faith in him, and she wants to test him," Kakashi then added, "But don't tell Naruto that. Then he'll wise up and realize we've been doing this to him for the past few months."

Sasuke was truly amazed, and maybe even a bit jealous, of the ammount of attention Naruto was garnering from the new Hokage. What happened on the journey to get her and bring her to Konoha? Sure, Naruto had his moments, but he was just too boisterous, too overbearing to be a great ninja. The fact that he got into the Chuunin class was purely coincedential. Hyuuga Neji was an easy and untrained opponent in Sasuke's opinion; hardly a match for anyone.

But Naruto must've done something to get such attention and be tested so much like this! Not even Sasuke had this much attention, and he graduated from the school valedictorian. It simply made no sense, to have such a low-class, bottom of the barrel ninja be so appreciated in the elder's eyes like this. But even Sasuke registered that there was simply nothing he could do except try harder for the attention and reverence of his seniors, and more importantly, beat Naruto at anything he does.

The three reached the outside of the building, and Kakashi told the two to go home and pack a clean pair of clothes and meet at the village gates in an hour. Kakashi then fled off to do whatever he needed to do; probably packing as well. This mission was going to be pretty long, but if they hurried they might be able to get home by Saturday night; this is only if they can find the creature's nesting grounds in the caves, though.

Naruto and Sasuke made a small exchange of 'see you in a bit' statements and rushed off to their houses. Naruto moved a bit slower than Sasuke, and didn't reach his apartment complex for nearly fifteen minutes. Am I really that tired of these missions? Couldn't I put a bit more effort into what I'm doing?

Naruto shook his head as he fumbled the key into the lock on the door. The door squeaked open, and the smell of home rushed into Naruto's nostrils. He loved this apartment, no matter how messy it may be, no matter how run down it was. The floor creaked and squealed, the walls were cracked and some even had holes in them from when Naruto had punched them after hours of training, or anger of anything that got him that riled up. The water pressure didn't function properly all the time, but was good enough. The kitchen space was cramped and there was barely enough room for the tiny refrigerator, oven and pantry, along with one set of cabinets that were yellowed from the gas stove. The bed was actually pretty alright, comfy and broken in. But that did not suffice for the shoddy shag carpeting in the small bedroom. But it was still home, or at least the closest thing Naruto had to it.

He went into the aforementioned bedroom and got out a clean pair of green khakis and a black t-shirt. Since Naruto knew he was restricted from using any ninjustu or weapons, he didn't think he'd have to pack ninja specific wear. He also grabbed a small sleeping mat and a blanket. He assumed that he wouldn't be getting to sleep in someone's house.

Naruto grabbed a worn blue backpack from the corner of the room and stuffed the clothes and boxers into it, and zipped that pocket up; he unzipped another, and placed a water bottle from the kitchen in it, and a bag of hard candy and some cup-ramen in there as well. he strapped the mat to a small chain on the top of the bag, and secured it with a piece of rope. Zip, chink, lift.

Naruto flung the bag over his shoulder, walked out of the bedroom, and placed it on the kitchen table. The kitchen table was about eight feet from the bed room. He still had about twenty minutes before he had to make his way to the city gates, so Naruto took this time to do some cardio-vascular exercises. About fifty sit-ups, twenty push-ups, and a few others that he did every day. Usually he did more of them, but Naruto was pressed for time by then. He grabbed his bag off of the table and made his way for the door. Again, he thought- maybe I shouldn't go through this door. What's one missed mission? I could always say I've come down with the flu, like Sakura. But even Naruto knew that he'd never let himself back down from a challenge. This might even be fun.

AN: I will update as the reviews come, and I'll also continuously update each chapter and fix some errors or places where there should be more detail or dialogue, etc. or fixing grammatical errors. Cheers, everyone!


	2. Chapter Two

Naruto made his way across the rooftops, slower than normal because the old blue backpack would shake and ram against his spine whenever he jumped to the next set of shingles. It wasn't that it hurt, but it was excrutiatingly annoying to have something feel like it was jumping up and down on your back while you ran. Like Konohamaru, thought Naruto. Somehow he's able to do that. I think that's why I can't stand using this bag, but it's the only one I got. It's the only one I can afford.

Not only was it that Naruto didn't like easy C and D rank missions, but the pay was horrible. The lower the level, the less money you're paid to do it. The mission that later involved Zabuza kept Naruto fed and his apartment rent paid off for about five months, but even after twenty or so C and D rank missions, the money was still tight and Naruto had to sometimes go without eating for a few days, which might explain his attempts to have people pay for his food so much. There was nothing worse than having that feeling of emptiness in your stomach, contracting and expanding, eating on itself.

The financial constraints of these missions were starting to wear on Sasuke as well, but he actually already had money to fall back on from his rich family. Naruto didn't know if his family was rich or not; and as far as he knew, he didn't even have relatives outside his mother and father. And they were six feet under, being chewed on by worms. But Naruto was just happy that he got to eat today, a whole cup of ramen and some orange juice. That should tide him over until tomorrow. He had trained himself over time for his body to not need food as much as other people; a half loaf of bread could sustain him for about twenty-eight hours, though this didn't stop his stomach from growling, his mouth parching up, and the convulsing pain that went with it. The hunger was just another facet of this everyday, boring existance that has been sucking on Naruto's soul for the past three months. He even began to miss having his life in danger, the spear-like fear that would overtake him and give him more confidence, more adrenaline, than surely anyone else had ever felt before; and on special occasions, Naruto would succumb to the devil spirit inside of him, where pain would no longer exist, where the hunger subsided and there was only rage, glistening and mighty, a blade cutting air on the battlefield.

Sometimes, the Demon Fox would even speak words to Naruto, though it was very rare and usually short. They were tiny sentences, that would fluster out and enter his mind at oppurtune times. "Kill him", this was the one it said the most, and rightly so. The times it spoke up were the instances where Naruto finally had someone in his grasp, ready to destroy their body, eject the soul from the ties of the flesh. Kabuto, Haku, Neji. Everyone he could think of that had at one time been in his grasp to slice their neck, gut their belly, the voice had spoken up. But Naruto rarely listened to it, for the voice was never strong; it was almost like an after thought, but he knew it was not his own. This made it easier to ignore, but its presence was still understood and noticed.

Kyuubi is a wild spirit, Naruto told himself. It is deadly, vile, disgusting. It would kill me, I know it would, if it weren't for the fact that it loved me. It loved me, because I am its mother, its carrier. I am its father, its protector. I am the holder of the greatest evil anyone has ever seen, and it loves me like it was my own son. That is why it is so loyal, so willing to protect me and give me his power. He knows that my body cannot go under too much harm, or else he will disappear from this universe, fade away along with my soul to wherever I'm bound to end up. Kyuubi needs me.

Naruto stopped at a rooftop near the gates. It was a large office building and, at an angle, you could see the rest of the village, along with the stone monument of the four hokage. Naruto put his palm on his belly, grasped at the clothing. He could feel Kyuubi's soul rumbling quietly in him; not the hunger. Naruto wasn't hungry right now.

I love you, my father... 

Naruto looked out over the city, and breathed in deep. In one long, exasperated sigh, he looked down to one of the streets. He could see Sasuke walking, a red backpack slung over his shoulder. It looked to be brand new; or maybe just well taken care of. Naruto could feel that Sasuke knew he was there. But that may have been because Sasuke looked up and saw him. Within moments, Sasuke jumped up and scaled the rooftops until he jumped up from the last hanging and to the roof where Naruto was.

"Got your stuff?" Sasuke asked, and scratched his cheek.

"All I'll need. Do you know if we're going to have a place to stay?"

"I think there's an Inn up there. We can use the village's money to stay at it. It's only for two nights, I think we'll manage."

"I just hope they have something good to eat up there!"

"You hungry or something? Did you eat before you left?"

"I'm not hungry right now, but I will be."

Sasuke turned away from Naruto and looked out over the horizon. He could see that about three miles away, lie the misty form of Stone Mountain. It wasn't a very large mountain by any stretch of the imagination, but it was big enough to have a small snow cap and a few jagged edges. You could barely make out the town on one of its sides, but it was there. Trees covered most of it, and here and there there was a rock or cliff that jutted out.

"I never noticed it before, but that mountain is really ordinary looking," Naruto said. Sasuke was mildly annoyed by this statement but didn't say anything about it. Of course it was ordinary, its name was Stone Mountain. Any mountain named that is going to look pretty plain.

"Where's Kakashi? Wasn't supposed to be here by now?" Naruto complained, looking around and seeing no sign of the grey haired ninja. Sasuke felt bad for Naruto. He kept forgetting that Kakashi is always late, and there was still about ten to fifteen minutes before our 'time' was up.

"Naruto, calm down. We still have a few minutes before he's supposed to be here," Sasuke pointed out. Naruto sat down indian-style, his face scrunched up.

"God, he's always like this! Even if we are a little early, he won't be here for probably another hour! It's so annoying,"

"Like we have any thing else to do but wait. He'll be here in a little bit, just shut up about it," Silence fell over the two. Neither spoke for a long time, and the city sounds overtook any conversation that might've been made afterwards. It took about forty five more minutes for Kakashi to show up, and by then both of the boys had already moved to the front of the gates.

"Hey there guys, you ready?" Kakashi said, smiling and that one eye closed in a happy expression.

"We've been ready for about an hour, sensei," Naruto said, clenching his fists in mock outrage of his teacher's ability to be late all the damn time. Kakashi stretched his back and walked over to a small wooden door to the right of the city gates. He knocked three times, and then two more times, but slower. The door opened and out popped a man that was old and had a massive pot belly, with a large grey beard twirling almost halfway down his body.

"Hello, Mari-san. Could you open the gates for us, we're in a hurry to get to the stone village up on the mountain," For such a strong and intimidating guy, Kakashi sure did know how to act polite, thought Sasuke.

"Sure 'tang, Kakashi. It'll be just a min', I'll git da motors runnin'." The man walked back inside, and a few moments later the sound of rusted metal cracking and turning together rang out from inside the small gatehouse, and the giant metal and oak doors began to swing open, the wood expanding to this new movement, which resulted in many squawks and snappings and cracking noises. The doors opened up to a long pathway that later diverged into eight seperate roadways. Kakashi thanked the man, paid him a small fee, and the three walked out of the village's limits. The doors closed behind them, and a gush of wind and sound hit their backs as they left.

"Which road is it, sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"I believe it's the one of the four on the right side, second to the left," Sasuke blinked in confusion. Did Kakashi actually know the way or was he just guessing? He absolutely couldn't stand it when the teacher was like this, so lost in his own little world. He was probably thinking about that manga he likes to read so much. Wasn't it smut?

"There are signs, remember? We can just use those," Naruto said, just a wee bit behind the other two. He was definitely not in a good mood, Sasuke could tell. The more logically Naruto thought, the more depressed and moody he was. Damn, that's not good. This may be an easy mission, but Sasuke didn't want one of his team members to give him a hard time. Even if they already had a handicap like this.

What may have shook Sasuke up even more is that Naruto actually remembered that there were signs. It had been almost three months since he last left the village, hadn't it? What a long time for him. I am truly surprised he didn't forget. It was such a minor detail when he left, but maybe that's what Naruto always noticed: The minor details, the tiny things that no one else ever really grabbed a hold of. Is that why he was always able to come up with those wild and surprisingly complicated attacks? Is it because he could never see the big picture? Sasuke wondered if Naruto had some kind of mental disease other than ADD that made him tune out to anything besides those tiny little details. No, Sasuke thought to himself. Couldn't be; he would always state the obvious, right? So that must be where I'm wrong. He always points out whatever is the most obvious to everyone else. But that really doesn't disclude his tendency to notice the minor things. Maybe he just doesn't like to point them out as much; perhaps he thinks everyone is much like him. They notice all the small things, but none of the big issues. Naruto, you fool. Only you are like that.

"Oy, there's the signs! See, told you they had them!" Sasuke let himself have a smile of contentment. Right on que, Naruto.

"Yes, we see them, they're right in front of us," Kakashi rubbed his forehead as Naruto read the signs and tried to figure out which one lead to the mountain. He studied one sign for about a second or so then moved on to the next, until he turned around and pointed down a road that was three right from the middle.

"Looks like I was off by one," Kakashi admitted, and shrugged nonchalantly. Naruto had a triumphant smile, a genuine one. He always felt good whenever he could best anyone, especially Kakashi. But of course these feelings would soon subside and this void of emotion would return and soon they'd be at the end of the road, where the trail to the top of the mountain lay. But that soon was going to be a while. Naruto's stomach growled and pinched itself in hunger. Maybe some of the villagers will have some kind of food to eat? Mayhaps even ramen? Naruto hoped it would be good. The ramen he had for breakfast was already old and tasted really off; like mushrooms and elephant testicles. It was supposed to taste like chicken.

"Ugh, how far are we going to have to walk, Kakashi-sensei? I'm starving," Naruto complained, giving his leader puppy dog eyes and a wiggling mouth.

"It's about three miles, not too bad. And don't give me that look, please," Kakashi turned his head away from Naruto and continued to look down the road as they walked.

"Why's that?"

"It makes me think you're going to eat my leg off, honestly." Naruto blinked a bit. The first word that came to mind was 'what' and then 'huh' and again 'what'. Sasuke also had to do a double take on that statement. What the hell was Kakashi saying? Sasuke figured he had better change the subject quickly before any more brain cells were killed mercilessly by his teacher's statement.

"Uhh, Naruto, I thought you said you weren't hungry..." Well, that was bright Sasuke. You always act like this when Sakura-chan isn't around. Sasuke mentally kicked himself for making idle convesation just to pass the time.

"I said I would be later, it's just that I haven't really eaten all that much so I'm kinda always hungry now."

"Don't you buy food or anything?"

"I can't afford it sometimes," Naruto gave a matter-of-fact expression on his face. He wasn't kidding, but he wasn't looking for anyone's sympathy either. Sasuke guessed at how many times a day Naruto ate. Once? Twice? How much did he eat? Damnit, he couldn't have a starving, not to mention blundering, dumb-ass on his team. Sasuke thought okay of Naruto as a person, but as a ninja he just didn't perform that well that often. But then, those times... was he starving then, too? No, I shouldn't use the term starving. He looks completely healthy.

"How many times a day do you eat, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, glancing at the blonde-haired boy.

"Maybe once every two days. Why's that?" Damn, Kakashi thought. He was amazingly fit and had no signs of muscle deterioration or bone lines... He must have a very good metabolism, or there's something else he does to not get incredibly sick over not eating..maybe he was doing this intentionally?

"You're not doing it on purpose, just to clarify," Said Kakashi.

"No, I'd kill for a sandwich any day of the week. I just don't have any money, so I had to train myself to be able to go without eating for a few days and still be able to function as a ninja." He had a slight tinge of arrogance in his voice, like he was happy for his accomplishment. But under that lay the sound of a deep, deathly tone that almost took Kakashi's breath away.

"Well, we'll just see if there's some food we can have at the Inn we're staying at." That's all Kakashi could offer him. If there was one thing Kakashi could never stand to see, was someone who couldn't afford to eat, even when they had a job. The C and D rank missions continued to deteriorate financially, and if the council raised their price range, they wouldn't have any buyers; but if they lowered it, then a lot of the genin would be on less than a few dollars a day, depending on the kind of mission and how long it lasts. He could remember back to the time when he was a genin. How old was he? Six years old? Yes, he still lived with his parents then. Kakashi had never known such an extreme hunger as this. He had known pain, suffering. But he had never felt the searing, deathly grip Naruto was in. Kakashi could not afford himself to be lenient on Naruto for his lack of funds, and thusly his lack of food. He wanted to push Naruto as hard as possible, because the boy deserved nothing less. Kakashi had watched the child from birth, at least since Kyuubi was put into his body. It was his orders, in fact; he could never have contact with him, until the time that he became a Gennin. So he would sit back and in the shadows he would observe Naruto's movements and behaviors and the foster parents that tended to him when he was little. The parents despised Naruto not because of who he was, but because of the beast inside of him. They knew it was sealed deep into his soul. They knew it couldn't get out. But they still hated him, and left him alone. The first foster parents taught him how to speak and walk, and fed him; all other things that normal children got- love, attention, affection, he was not given. The necessities were there, but nothing else. His next temp-parents were even worse; they didn't want him to go to the Ninja Academy, detested it. Kakashi remembered the old 3rd hokage telling them that he had every right to go. Their argument was something that he was dangerous to the community, he had no right to be a soldier for the village. He would destroy it, just how he did those five years ago. The hokage refused to listen to them, and funded Naruto's schooling. No one ever told the boy that, though. He always thought it was the two foster parents that had provided the money for him to go to school. The next few years of Naruto's life was quite hectic, as Kakashi rememberd. He was popped around from parent to parent, like a hot potato in a child's game. None of them ever kept Naruto for more than about two months; his hijinks and other desperate grabs for attention became too much for them and they would pass him down and down and down, until Naruto finally got the hint and got his own place with the little known money his parents had left in the banking account. The people that used to live in the apartments next to his caught wind of his arrival and moved out. Naruto had been almost completely cut off from any kind of social interactivity for most of his life; Kakashi began to believe this was the reason for his hyper-activity. That was his plea for attention, the one thing that Naruto believed would gain him at least some kind of recognition in the village. The only problem was that it had become habituary, and he had lost the conscious decision to act this way or not.

The three reached the trail to the village in the mountain about two hours later. There was little conversation, and most of it was spent thinking about how Naruto's weekend was completely ruined by this ungodly annoying assignment. How could Tsuande do this to him? Had he not proven his worth to her many times before? She was a cold bitch, and Naruto wasn't happy about this. She never let him do anything she thought for one single second he wasn't capable of. Tsuande-sama knew damn well that Naruto was more than qualified to take on a B or A rank mission. She was treating him like he was her own son. At one level, Naruto was happy that someone considered him to be their son, but at the same time he was against it, nervous and frightened about it. Hokage or not, having a mother is dangerous business. This might be why I'm so hostile towards her...Am I really that hard to get along with?

There was a beaten path, covered in gravel, dirt and dead leaves, that zig-zagged itself up and up and up to the top of the mountain, but broke off to a platform where the small town was.

"Well boys, who's up for a hike?" Kakashi said, smiling and laughing and trying his absolute best to keep a cheery mood going.

"Well, we have to, don't we?" said Sasuke.

"It's part of the job, so yes. You do." Kakashi smiled at Sasuke.

"The faster we get up there, the faster we can eat something. So please, can we GO?" Naruto rolled his eyes in irritation, and walked ahead of the other two ninja.

"He's being an asshole today." Sasuke said, and walked up behind Naruto.


End file.
